12 Jun 2025 City of Boston’s Archaeology Pop-up at the Old Corner
The City of Boston’s Archaeology Program has been hosting a pop up at the Old Corner Bookstore complex for the past month. The temporary exhibit demonstrates how the lab processes “field fresh” artifacts from a Charlestown dig that is part of the city-wide initiative, Boston 250, to celebrate milestones in the American Revolution all year long.
Here, Project Archaeologist Lauryn Sharp from the City of Boston Archaeology Program, tells us more about what they’ve been digging up in Charlestown. Their exhibit is open 9 AM- 4PM on Wednesdays.
Over the past month, the City of Boston Archaeology Program has been hard at work washing and sorting artifacts from two recent excavations in Charlestown. These digs, which have just concluded, are part of a larger initiative to explore and elevate underrepresented stories from Charlestown’s past, particularly those connected to the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Burning of Charlestown in 1775. This work was conducted as part of the 250th commemoration of the battle this June.
While our primary focus has been to investigate the Revolutionary-era landscape and stories, the bulk of what we uncovered speaks to more recent chapters in the neighborhood’s history. Recovered materials include a significant amount of bottle glass, ceramics, architectural debris, animal bone, and shell, alongside a few small finds that highlight everyday life.
The mixed fill materials and deposits that were uncovered from these two digs reflect the rapid transformation of the area over the last 250 years from a colonial farming community to the bustling neighborhood we know today.
Our dedicated team of volunteers has been helping process these archaeological finds in real time at our temporary pop-up lab at 7 School Street in downtown Boston. There, visitors can also explore a series of exhibit panels that provide context for our work. The exhibit covers key events leading up to and following the Battle of Bunker Hill, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Siege of Boston, and the tensions between British soldiers and townspeople that came to a head in June 1775.
Our pop-up lab at 7 School Street will be open on Wednesdays 9 AM – 4 PM and we invite you to stop by, say hi and explore Boston’s history with us.